Here and Now

Good morning. It’s chilly out there. As of 5:30 a.m., the temperature in NYC’s Central Park was hovering at about 40 degrees, and it was just slightly below that here in Albany.

If you’re in NYC, expect some additional traffic today as President Obama will be in Brooklyn to visit the Pathways in Early Technology High School. Parts of Prospect Park – but not the whole thing, as originally reported – will be closed form noon to 6 p.m.

A host of elected officials – including Mayor Bloomberg, Democratic NYC mayoral frontrunner Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo – will be on hand for Obama’s speech at the school at 3 p.m., 150 Albany Ave., Brooklyn.

At 10:30 a.m., Sen. Chuck Schumer and US DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx will provide an update on post-Sandy recovery and resiliency work on the R Train’s Montague tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn and lay out the federal reimbursement plan being processed by the FTA, intersection of Montague and Furman streets, Brooklyn.

Also at 10:30 a.m., sen. Phil Boyle will hold a press conference to call on federal regulators to relax regulations on SBA loans made for post-Sandy recovery projects, 45 Lighthouse Rd., Babylon.

At 11:30 a.m., Lhota will hold a press conference with charter school parents to condem de Blasio’s “anti-school choice positions,” corner of First Avenue and East 120th St., Manhattan.

At 11:45 a.m., state Commissioner John King will address the NYSSBA conference in Rochester.

LG Bob Duffy interviewed for a job heading the Rochester Business Alliance on Oct. 5 without first informing the governor – or anyone in the administration – he planned to do so. As such, he may have violated the Public Officers Law.

The NYT OpEds against Cuomo’s casino amendment, saying he has failed to make the case that non-Indian run gaming facilities will indeed improve the upstate economy, producing jobs and steady revenue.

A pro-casino group has released its first series of television ads, trying to persuade voters to go along with Cuomo’s plan to permit developers to build up to seven Las Vegas-style casinos in New York.

Maybe slot machines at airports is a better idea than full-blown casinos?

Donors can give as much money as they want to a group supporting Republican NYC mayoral nominee Joe Lhota, following a ruling by a federal appeals court that could pave the way for increased outside spending in New York elections.

Lhota said the city is “one bad mayor away from unsafe streets,” and he would personally feel unsafe under a de Blasio administration.

Cuomo said he does not know if his anti-corruption Moreland Commission has uncovered any possible illegal activities by state lawmakers, but feels legislators are making a mistake if they challenge the commission’s decision to subpoena information about outside income.

New York City plans to replace its 250,000 street lights with light-emitting diode lamps by 2017 – a move the Bloomberg administration says could ultimately cut power and maintenance costs by $14 million a year.

In a bid to crack down on rampant abuse at facilities treating the developmentally disabled, state inspectors will now double the number of times they visit the facilities.

Cuomo would rather not talk about the notion, pushed by a determined group of high-powered urban planners, that Madison Square Garden should relocate to make way for a new Penn Station after its operating permit expires in a decade’s time.

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York has laid off 500 employees – part of the fallout from state scrutiny of enrollment practices that drew fit elderly people into programs meant for frail and disabled patients.

The pro-Hillary Clinton forces got a huge boost with the announcement that billionaire investor George Soros signed on with a super PAC trying to lure her into the 2016 presidential contest.

A bizarre rape case in Putnam County, where the sitting DA happens to be Judge Judy’s son.

The FDA has agreed to place stronger restrictions on a class of prescription painkillers that contain hydrocodone, according to Sen. Charles Schumer.

Newsday endorsed Democrat Howard Weitzman’s bid to re-take his old job from Republican Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, saying the incumbent’s political ambitions prevented him from being objective.

A proposal on the November ballot to allow some judges to serve until they are 80 years old is not drawing a lot of support.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano’s re-election bid at campaign events in Bethpage and Syosset.

Nassau County executive candidate Thomas Suozzi charged that nearly a year after superstorm Sandy, Mangano has not developed a comprehensive strategy to help residents who have yet to return to their homes.

Cuomo vetoed a bill sponsored by two Buffalo lawmakers that would help give more timely notice to lower-income, working parents that child care subsidies they receive are being eliminated or reduced.

Bloomberg admitted that the Citi Bike program isn’t profitable, nearly six months after the bicycle-share program launched around town.

Four charities that had been under fire for sitting on millions of dollars of Sandy relief funds have agreed to pony up $10 million to aid victims of the storm.